I’m so glad I’m debuting my new blog and website with this kitchen! The clients could not have been nicer and the transformation more dramatic.

The Davis’ came to me with a request a lot of folks have. A family of avid cooks who loved to entertain had a cramped kitchen, 2 awkward dining areas and a weirdly large entry foyer. The latter was actually an extension of another entry foyer…in other words, totally unnecessary.

So, the walls came down and I completely reconfigured the floorplan (my favorite thing to do, by the way)! I’m not one who always thinks all walls should come down. I totally get that some like to have a separation between the kitchen and dining area. But, these folks wanted it all open and I think the proof is in the pudding (cooking pun, there) that it was a good idea.

In the process, we got rid of a couple of windows, which some might think a little crazy. However, if the view out of a window is the side of a garage, you’re not exactly going to miss it. We balanced losing the two windows by enlarging other windows and adding bright white cabinets and new lighting. We also added two sinks, two dishwashers, an extra drink refrigerator and a custom buffet for extra storage and serving areas (these folks entertain – and bake – a lot!).

For the dining area, we had a custom farm table made by the incredibly talented folks at Carolina Farm Table in Sparta, NC and custom chairs made by Furniture Specialties (who also custom made the sofas in the family room).

We couldn’t really ignore the adjacent family room. What’s the point of brand new pants if you’re just wearing an old ratty t-shirt, after all (metaphorically speaking here….thank goodness for them, my services don’t extend to wardrobe consultation). Truth be told, the family room wasn’t actually ratty, but it had a sofa that no one wanted to sit on (the husband literally laid on the floor to avoid it) and a layout that pointed everyone away from that beautiful view out the window. The wife hated the room so much, she avoided it all costs. Now, I’m proud to say, it’s her favorite room (maybe after the kitchen, that is). Oh, and her husband loves the custom sofas we had made.

We also added an extra doorway between the two rooms to improve the flow and bring in the light from all of those lovely windows.